Giblin was ordered to pay restitution
Instead, he played in the casino
When Patrick Giblin was arrested in Atlantic City on March 3, 2005, it wasn’t the first time he was hauled into court for scamming women.
Two years earlier, Giblin had been extradited to Colorado because he took $10,583 from a widow, B.L., who he met over the Quest telephone personals. In a hearing on August 29, 2003, Giblin reached a plea agreement with the district court judge in Larimer County.
Giblin pleaded guilty to attempted theft. He received a one-year sentence, which was suspended, on the condition that he pay restitution to the victim, refrain from gambling, and remain law-abiding.
Rehabilitation plan
Giblin had an opportunity to make a statement in court. Here’s what he said:
“I’ve just been gambling for 15 years, and I’ve got a serious gambling problem. And I’ve never, in 15 years, asked for help, went and tried to get help, or anything. And now, I’ve got to.
“One of the first things I’m going to do when I get back—they passed a law in New Jersey where you put yourself on the exclusion list on all the casinos you go to gambling. You fill out paperwork, they take your picture, submit it to the casinos. You can do it for one year, five years, or life. And if you walk into the casino, that’s a trespassing charge, and that’s a crime in New Jersey. So that’s one of the first things I’m going to do when I get back there.
“Secondly, start attending Gambling Anonymous. I never went to them at all, never. And I’ve never sought help, and I’ve got to do it now; that’s the second thing.
“Then the third thing, my friends and my family, as long as I do what I say I’m going to do, they’re going to help me and give me some of this money to pay back this woman, but they won’t do it until I help myself and prove that I submitted the paperwork to the casino, getting myself on the exclusion list, because if I can do that, that’s going to solve all my problems.”
Giblin agreed to pay $1,200 per month to the Colorado court, and he was freed to return to New Jersey.
100 previous victims
By the time Giblin appeared in the Colorado court to answer the charges filed by B.L., he had already swindled 100 other women. Giblin took a total of $129,236 from them between 2000 and 2003, according to documents submitted to the U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey.
The documents, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald Chillemi and Mathhew Skahill, also indicate that Giblin did not comply with the terms of his release:
On September 6, 2003—eight days after his Colorado court date—he was back in New Jersey, gambling in the Caesars Atlantic City casino. In fact, he went to the casino every day.
On September 30, 2003—32 days after his agreement with the Colorado judge—Giblin swindled another woman. He took $1,375 from D.E. of Arizona.
Giblin’s first payment to the Colorado court was due October 1, 2003. On October 7, he wrote to the court, asking for an extension until November 1. “I just started working on September 15th. I get paid every two weeks,” he wrote. “I am doing the best I can and I can make those payments in full of $1,200 a month starting on November 1st. I am attending gamblers anonymous meetings. I am not gambling, and of course I am staying out of trouble.”
Giblin wrote a similar letter on February 19, 2004. He said he had made the $1,200 payments for November, December, January and February, but was laid off from his job. Giblin requested an extension for his March payment, claiming he would pay it on April 1 with his income tax refund.
Between writing the October and February letters to the court, Giblin swindled two more women. He took $16,840 from C.C. of Texas. And, he took $57,125 from J.W. of New York.
25 more victims
Giblin went on to swindle 25 more women, stealing an additional $99,955. But even with all that money, he did not keep up with his payments to the Colorado court. So on January 9, 2005, he was arrested in Ventnor, New Jersey, which is adjacent to Atlantic City, for failing to pay the restitution. Giblin sent two letters to the Colorado court from jail, writing that he was not gambling and had stayed out of trouble. He claimed his only problem was not being able to pay on time.
Giblin was extradited back to Colorado, where he again worked out payment arrangements with the court.
Records later filed with the court in New Jersey prove that Giblin was lying. He had been at Caesars every single day since returning from Colorado in 2003, and had stolen money from 28 women. After his second trip to the Colorado court, Giblin quickly returned to scamming and gambling.
On February 21, 2005, Giblin took $700 from S.H. of Colorado. On February 23, he took $480 from A.K. of Colorado. On February 26, he took $1,200 from S.B. of Florida, and started scamming C.B. of Ohio.
Arrested at the casino
Atlantic City Police Detective Thomas Holton received a phone call on March 1, 2005, from the woman in Ohio. C.B. said Giblin had demanded money from her and threatened to kill her children if she did not comply.
The woman had already sent Giblin $7,700 via Western Union. He was demanding another $600. In fact, while C.B. was in her local police department making her complaint, Giblin called on her cell phone. The call was recorded by the Ohio police officer.
Det. Holton searched police records on Giblin and found he had previously been arrested in Atlantic City. The detective then queried the casinos and learned that Giblin was staying in a room at Caesars. Giblin was arrested, and in his room police found receipts for wire transfers from C.B. and two other women. They also found two small notebooks in which Giblin made specific, handwritten notes on the women that he talked to over the dating service phone lines. According to an investigator, Giblin indicated when he thought the women would be ready for scamming.